Posts Tagged ‘cars’

late afternoon, Graffiti Alley

Posted: August 12, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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As you may know, every few months I wander down Rush Lane and all the other lanes that make up Graffiti Alley on the south side of Queen West.  There is usually something new on the walls and hydro poles and there are often people watching opportunities as well.   Wednesday’s walk did not disappoint.   Here is the photographic evidence – some street art that I saw for the first time and some worth a second look… and even a person or two.

mural of a large face with paint brush by the mouth, wearing glasses, mural seems to be looking at a car that is parked in front of it, with reflections of the mural in the car window

below: Taking selfies is an artform in itself.

two young women pose in front of a colourful mural in an alley, while around the corner of the building a young man is looking at his phone,

below: Making a video in one of the side alleys.

making a music video in front of the street art in an alley, a young man in white t shirt is dancing to the music (and lip synching too I think) while another man, bald, is filming him and recording him.

below:  A home for hundreds of stickers, all nicely frames together

The words noo ideal painted above a window in an alley. The window is covered with a metal grille as well as hundreds of stickers

below: This poser bunny takes the spotlight.

a poser bunny painted on the side of a building, spotlighted by the afternoon sun, the wall behind him is in shadow

below: A new piece, with some older poser bunnies in the background.

street art on a wall in an alley, text starting with G, two yellow eyes as well

below: When I first saw this piece (by elicser?) I thought that he had his heart in his hands.  As I look at it more, I’m not so sure.   Any ideas?  Also, “How long do we have?”  An open question, an incomplete question, a mysterious question, or a question of philosophy.  You see, one question leads to another.

street art and graffiti in an alley, on a wall and in a doorway. On the wall is a headless man holding a pink blob in his hands, on the doorway is a lot of graffiti and tags along with the words, How long do we have?

below: This one isn’t new and isn’t particularly outstanding, but the way the sun was shining on it caught my eye.  A bit of a silly comment – I’ll assume that W C doesn’t stand for water closet!

wood double garage door, center opening, with a large street art W and C painted on it.

a large orange text graffiti across a large door and on the wall on both sides, all in orange, with three orange traffic cones in front of it.

below: Donald Trump and the lovebot share a pole.  Poor lovebot  😦

two stickers on a pole. The top one is a lovebot sticker and the bottom one is Donald Trump's head on a naked man's body.

below: Street art by gems

text graffiti by street artist gems, words spells gems in oranges and blues.

below: One more new street art piece

street art text painting in blue

below: Talking trash says “She’s bound to put a blanket on my bed”.

trash bins outside a restaurant. One of them has had words written on it,

below: A small blue airplane and another little blue thing, all that remains of a larger mural painted long ago.

very small street art painting of a blue airplane amongst tags

below: Apparently he doesn’t miss us?

small line drawing graffiti of a person with a word bubble that says I don't miss you

below: Oh no! Stikman is behind bars and lovebot’s been restrained.

a stikman is on a wall behind a metal grille and lovebot is on a metal pole to which a metal strap has been placed, over top of lovebot

below: A seat and a smoke at break time. Maybe he’s texting his girlfriend about the weirdos he sees in the alley. Or maybe he took my picture and he’s adding it to his instagram collection of strangers in the lane! 🙂

a man is sitting on a small orange plastic stool in an alley. He has a yellow apron on. He has a cell phone and a cigarette in his hands.

below: A protest piece.  A play on the national anthem. Oh Canada our home on native land.

street art on a wall in an alley, Canadian flag with background colours changed to Native flag colours, and words that say Oh Canada Our Home On Native Land. Honour our treaties.

 

below: One word of warning if you plan to walk this alley in the late afternoon, you may be dodging cars that are trying to avoid Queen Street traffic.

close up of the side of a car as it drives past in an alley

below: But you’ll also be entertained by those who get stuck.  It’s especially amusing when it’s the more aggressive drivers who are thwarted.   It is a working alley, not a street, after all.

cars trying to go in two different directions as they pass a truck parked in an alley

6th Annual Yorkville Exotic Car Show

Posted: June 20, 2016 in events
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The 6th Annual Yorkville Exotic Car Show was on Bloor Street yesterday, Fathers Day.  There were 11 different groups, or corrals, of cars…. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, Maserati, and many other car makers were represented.  There was lots of sun and lots of people!

Men looking a black car. All you can see of the car in the picture is the roof.

below: A line of Lamborghinis parked on Bloor Street.
The cars were behind ropes and the spectators had a red carpet to walk on.

Several lamborghinis parked beside each other on Bloor Street as part of the Yorkville exotic car show. Lots of people are looking at them.

a man with grey hair and black glasses is pointing to the front of a black sports car with its hood up. He is pointing out something to the woman beside him who is dressed in black with black hat and holding an umbrella over her head. They are behind a barrier at an outdoor exotic car show

below: A cute little 1959 BMW Isetta 300.
There are no side doors; the front of the car swings open with the steering wheel attached.

a yellow 1959 BMW Isetta 300 with its front door open - the front of the car opens up, parked on Bloor street for the Yorkville exotic car show.

below: A black BMW i8 electric car with its front scissor doors open.

A black BMW i8 electric car with its front scissor doors open.

Four men are looking at a turquoise 1960 Corvette at an outdoor car show. it has its front hood open and a sign by its front bumper says that it belongs to Corvettes of Durham

reflections of a crowd at an exotic car show in the side panel of a bright blue car. The people are standing on a red carpet which comes out a magenta colour in the reflection.

A young man holding his bike stands behind a metal fence while looking at a grey sports car at an outdoor car show in Yorkville

below: Porsche, with German plates

A dark grey Porsche with German licence plates is parked on Bloor Street, beside an older white Porsche, for the 6th annual Yorkville exotic car show.

people looking at, and taking pictures of, a black and orange Lamborghini at a car show, outdoors, Yorkville

parts of two cars parked beside each other in a car show, one is blue and the other is silver. The front wheel of the blue car is reflected in the side panel of the silver car which has G Reddy painted by the rear window.

below: Mercedes GTS

silver mercedes gts car, viewed from behind the back passenger side wheel, parked on Bloor St. for a car show. Some people in the background.

below: Chevrolet Belair convertible, with matching fuzzy dice

an old convertible car, Chevrolet Belair, with top down, turquoise car with matching white and turquoise interior

below: A Porsche from the 1960’s with its engine in the back.
Not much trunk room in this car!

two older classic Porsches, both white, parked in a car show, the one in the foreground has its trunk open to show the engine in the back of the car. Lots of people looking at the cars

below: Another Porsche, a 1961 Roadster

front end of a white 1961 Porsche Roadster

close up of the front grille of a Lexus car showing the L Lexus symbol and the diamond pattern of the metal work.

below: Pink and pink.  Standing in front of a pink Bousoughini from BGarage Ltd.

A little girl in white skirt, pink T-shirt, blue hat and big sunglasses stands in front of a fancy pink car at an outdoor car show

the side of a pink lambourghini, bousoughini, with a reddish car behind it.

below:  Morgan in two shades of blue, from the front.

front end of a two toned blue Morgan car in a car show outside on Bloor Stree, with a rally car in different colours beside it.

below: Same Morgan, but from the back.

back view of a Morgan car, California plates, shiny metallic blue colour, people looking at the cars in the background, car show

below: Shelby, from the 1960’s

man sitting in a folding chair beside a classic grey sports car at a car show

a man in a black short sleeve shirt and a yellow baseball cap is cleaning and polishing the rear window of a yellow Corvette at a car show, lots of onlookers in the background.

below: Tuscan Speed Six by TVR (British)

a purplish green shiny sports car, a Tuscan, by TVR motors, parked on Bloor St. for the Yorkville exotic car show.

below: Pininfarina is an Italian car design company.

close up shot of the front side panel of a white Maserati Pininfarina car, reflections of a red carpet make the bottom part of the car look pink

a boy walks past an orange lamborghini

dark green convertible in the foreground, people looking at in the background

A father is taking a selfie of himself with his son in front of a yellowish green sports car at a car show.

below: Photos of reflections in the front of a Rolls Royce.
It seems I’m not the only one who takes reflection shots.

a person using a GoPro to take a picture of reflections in the chrome on the front of a Rolls Royce

summer in the city, June edition

Posted: June 15, 2016 in people
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Summer in the city – enjoying the summer weather!

below: Toronto street art in Graffiti Alley.

Street art painting in a n alley that says Toronto in blue

below: skateboarders

Two young men on skateboards are passing by, another is holding onto the back bumber of a red car while he is on a skateboard and the car is moving.

below: Enjoying a quiet moment, late afternoon.

a woman sits on an outdoor patio, under a large yellow and white umbrella with a Singha Beer ad on it, sitting on a bright red plastic stool. Other plastic stools are around her, both red and blue

below: Painting shingles – June 4th was 100 in One Day, a day where community activites are promoted. One of the activities on Kenwood Lane was shingle painting.

kids painting designs on wooden shingles, outdoors.

below: Running through the fountains at Yonge Dundas Square

a boy runs down the middle of the fountains at Dundas Square with his arms out at his side and a smile on his face

below: World Naked Bike Ride participants cycle through Kensington.

Five or six men on bicycles on a street in Kensington, they are all naked. One is wearing a large Canada Flag hat and has a Canadian flag flying from the back of his bike. Participants in the World Naked Bike Day.

below: Relaxing at Nathan Phillips Square.  #sitTO is a campaign to increase the number of places to sit in public spaces.

A man sits on a folding chair beside the fountain at Nathan Phillips Square. He has his feet up on the bars of his bike that is balanced there.

below: Distillery District

A woman is posing by the large red heart in the distillery district, she is leaning back on one side of it.

below: Patio, College Street

a restaurant on the corner of two streets, with a patio both out front and at the side. Both are full on a sunny late afternoon.

A woman is carrying a cat in what looks like a baby carrier on her chest. It is a Siamese cat

a frontyard full of small purple, blue and white flowers, all behind a chainlink fence

refugees outside the Italian Consulate

Posted: May 7, 2016 in events
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Refugees in a State Apartment, Jens Ullrich,
Photo exhibit, on a fence outside the Italian Consulate, Dundas West at Beverley.

Part of Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival

photos mounted along the exterior of a wrought iron fence around the Italian Consulate, right beside the sidewalk. The consulate is on old brick house (mansion) from the 1800's - 3 of the photographs, people walking past

Ullrich has taken found black and white photographs of the interior of a large home near Bremen Germany.  The photos were taken in the late 1920’s.    Each photograph is of a different room in the villa and to each picture Ullrich has added  one person.   If you knew nothing about the series, you wouldn’t know that the subjects were refugees.

In each photomontage, singular individuals are depicted—usually with their faces hidden from the camera—within empty yet elaborately fashioned spaces that emphasize their solitude and unstable status. “

photos mounted along the exterior of a wrought iron fence around the Italian Consulate, right beside the sidewalk. The consulate is on old brick house (mansion) from the 1800's - phot by Jens Ullrich of a woman refugee with her face obscured by clothing, sitting on a chair in the bathroom of a large bathroom. also a photo of a male refugee in another room, looking in a large mirror

One of the concepts behind this series of images was the desire to

respectfully capture the disparate emotions of these individuals and their precarious situations.”

photos mounted along the exterior of a wrought iron fence around the Italian Consulate, right beside the sidewalk. The consulate is on old brick house (mansion) from the 1800's - as seen from across the street with pedestrians walking past and cars driving past

photos mounted along the exterior of a wrought iron fence around the Italian Consulate, right beside the sidewalk. The consulate is on old brick house (mansion) from the 1800's - the photos are of refugees that have been photoshopped into old photos of the interior of the apartment of a wealthy person from the 1920's
#CONTACT16

community and history, St. Clair West

Posted: April 24, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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There is a railway bridge, just west of Caledonia Rd where the GO line to Aurora passes over St. Clair West.
On the north side of the underpass is a mural in black, white and grey tones.

mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - the words St. Clair West in large letters

The theme of the mural is “Ontario’s first railway” as this railway line has been in operation since 1853 when the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron railway was built here.

mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - a photo of the mural from across the street, with its three parts, the words St. Clair West on the left, the locomotive in the middle and the railway workers on the right
The first locomotive built in Canada was a steam powered engine built by the Toronto Locomotive Works, a company founded by James Good.  Named “Toronto”, it was finished in April 1853 and in mid-May 1853 it pulled a short (4 cars) train from downtown Toronto 30 miles north to Machells Corners (now Aurora).   Service on the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron line had begun!

below: “From one age to another.  The locomotive was the machine of the future.”
mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - a painting of an old locomotive with the words 'Ontario's First Railway' on the top of the mural and the words: "from one age to another. The locomotive was the machine of the future. " at the bottom

mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - three railway workers in jackets and caps

The mural was painted in September 2012 by Marcelo Pinero, Aelwynn Swanson, and Pia Ferrari from the Davenport Arts Community.

blog_mural_first_railway

There is also a mural on the south side of the underpass; it has a soccer theme.

mural on a railway bridge underpass that has a soccer theme. Flags of different countries, soccer players, words,

It too was painted by Davenport Arts Community.

part of a mural with a soccer theme with words that say Football Fever St. Clair 1982. also with pictures of football players and flags from different countries.

part of a mural with a soccer theme with words that say Football Fever St. Clair 1982. also with pictures of football players and flags from different countries.

below: Silverthorn Sunrise mural painted late in 2012 by Marcelo Pinero and Aelwynn Swanson.  It is painted on the side of Whiteside Pharmacy which is on the NE corner of St. Clair and Silverthorn.   Silverthorn was also the name of this neighbourhood prior to 1998 when it was amalgamated into the City of Toronto.

Silverthorn Sunrise mural by the Davenport Arts Community, with the word Silverthorn, a sun rising over a bridge while a new TTC streetcar passes under the bridge, the words "shop St. Clair". The mural is on the side of a red brick building, beside a pharmacy.

And last, a mural that is actually on the side of business, West York Motors, which is located on St. Clair West between Ford and Osler streets.
It was painted by Splash Murals.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - a view of the mural from across the almost empty parking lot.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West near Osler - south end of the mural showing cars parked in front of a garagethe backs of two houses are also in the picture,

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - looking down the length of the mural including the narrow chimney on which the CN TOwer is painted.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - the part of the mural with the words "West York since 1945" also an old convertible with its door open and top down.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - a yellow sports car is painted on the wall near the entrance to the building

more information about the Davenport Arts Community

Fight for 15 and fairness

Posted: April 16, 2016 in events, people
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Rally and protest in front of the Ministry of Labour building on University Avenue.

April 15 was chosen as the day for rallies and protests across the country in support of a $15/hour minimum wage as well as other changes to labour laws.  Changes such as equal pay for equal work and fair scheduling.

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - people, many different union flags

cars driving past the protest on University Ave., people lined up on the boulevard taking pictures of the rally

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - photo taken from across University Ave

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - older woman in a blue baseball cap and smoking a cigarette holds a sign that says "Kicking ass for the working class"

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - one of the leaders, a young Asian man, gives a speech

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - three female students standing together holding signs. One says "Public Health students for decent work" and the other says " Free prescriptions, no student debt,

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - a car passes by the rally and as it does, people try to persuade the driver to honk his horn.

 

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - the contingent from York University, behind a banner that says $15 fairness now.

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - two women are talking together. One holds a sign that says $15 salario minimo (Spanish)

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - members of the OPSEU union arrive at the rally waving flags, holding signs, and carrying a banner that says Fight for fifteen dollars and fairness"

a young man is handing out leaflets to drivers of cars as they past a rally for Fight for 15 anf Fairness, a protest for decent working conditions and wages

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - two men standing together, one with a United Steelworkers flag and the other with a large effigy of Kathleen Wynne's head held above his own head

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - the rally spilled onto the street at one point. police kept the far lane open for traffic, in this picture an upmarket car (Jaguar?) passes by the crowd

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - members of the OPSEU union arrive at the rally waving flags, holding signs, and carrying a banner that says Fight for fifteen dollars and fairness"

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - a group of people stand around holding a flag banner about 3 metres by 3 metres that says fight for fifteen and fairness.

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - a white car passes by the rally, the woman driver leans out her window to take a picture with her cellphone

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - people holding signs that says "defend workers rights" and "fifteen dollar minimum wage now"

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - people holding flags and one person holding a sign that says "Unite here local 75"

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - speakers and a few people holding signs at the top of the stairs, using that part as a stage

photographs taken at a rally and protest in support of a $15 minimum wage, The Fight for 15 and fairness - large group of people standing around holding a black banner with the words "Make it fair" in large white letter.

man holding up a sign that says "Wake Up" at a rally protesting for a $15 minimum wage

#15andfairness | #OntarioWeWant

15andfairness.org

 

we take selfies

Posted: September 1, 2015 in people
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We take selfies, lots of selfies.

I watched a family struggle to take a selfie of the four of them that they were all happy with.  I offered to take their picture for them.  Simultaneously, the husband said “no thanks” and the wife handed me the phone and said “We’d love that”.  The husband rolled his eyes a bit and remarked on how useless selfies were but how we seemed to need to take them.   This post is dedicated to him.

A family dressed in red and white are taking a selfie at a Canada Day celebration at Dundas Square in Toronto

A group of four young women are taking a selfie just before running in the colour me rad race

A woman in a head scarf is taking a selfie while she stands with some other people by a firetruck.

A woman in a pink T-shirt is holding a frame that people are supposed to stand in when they take a selfie. It gives the name of the festival, Franco, and the instagram hasthtag. Except that she is holding it upside down

blog_selfie_kultura

A family of four is in the intersection of Yonge and Bloor on the Sunday of Open Streets when the street was closed to traffic. The kids are on scooters.

An Asian man (India heritage) is taking a picture of his family with a selfie stick as they walk in a parade down Yonge Street. His wife is holding a child. Other are walking behind them and holding a banner.

Two women are standing together as they take a selfie at Nathan Phillips Square during the pillow fight that was held there. One woman is holding a phone, the other woman is holding a pillow.

A woman with a brightly coloured umbrella is taking a selfie with three people at the Pride Parade in Toronto. The people are dressed from head to tow in white as part of an HIV awareness campaign, HIV is anonymous (and so are the people totally covered in white)

A couple is taking a selfie at a protest march. SOmeone is holding a sign that says Green Jobs Now behind them.

A man is sitting on a white chair under a pink umbrella on Sugar Beach. Behind him are two people standing on a rock taking a selfie together

A couple dressed in red and white are taking a selfie beside each other in front of the 3D Toronto sign at Nathan Phillips square. Two other people are to the right, also taking pictures. They could be taking a selfie or their camera could be pointed away from them.

A man is taking a selfie as another man wraps his head in a light blue turban.

A group of three people taking a selfie with a selfie stick. Mom is looking as sad as possible, daughter is holding a little dog and sticking out her tongue, dad is just staring at the phone.

Two young women take a selfie with a phone that has a minion cover on it. They are at buskerfest in Toronto and they are posing with a character that is covered in pieces of shiny reflective material

Two women taking a selfie at a yogathon, they are standing. Other people around them are sitting on mats, waiting for the event to begin.

blog_selfie_yogathon_thru_legs

A young man poses as he sits on the barrier beside Lake Ontario

People taking selfies - a man with a selfie stick at a car show on the Danforth. He is standing in front of a row of cars with their front hoods up.

People taking selfies - two young women are on top of The Archer sculpture in Nathan Phillips Square. Downtown skyscrapers are in the background

What do we do with all these selfies?

behind Honest Eds

Posted: January 4, 2015 in graffiti and street art, landmarks, locations
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Honest Eds, a Toronto icon, at the corner of Bathurst and Bloor since 1948

Standing on Bloor street looking south through the alley beside Honest Eds store. There is a glass covered walkway between the buildings on either side of the alley. On the side of the wwalkway is a sign that syas 'Honest Ed Alley'. The alley leads to a parking lot.

Looking south from Bloor Street towards the parking lot behind Honest Eds.

There are a few murals on the buildings that back onto the parking lot.

mural on a two storey light grey brick building showing musicians.

Trumpet players on the back of the Victory Cafe at the corner of  Markham and Lennox Streets

large mural of a woman with boxing gloves on. Beside her is a picture of a large dog's face.

Woman with boxing gloves has been on the back of Trainers Fitness for a few years.  The newer dog is painted on the back of A Leg Up Pet Services. 

The back of two buildings with a narrow passageway between the two. Both are two storeys high. The one on the left is painted light purple and has the words Southern Accent written in yellow letters. The one on the right is a mural of a man paddling a canoe down a tropical river, with a monkey and a parrot also in the picture.

Purple behind Southern Accent restaurant and a mural painted by Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre through their LOFT program. 

 

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